Natsumi is Not In Love
by Abandoned Accountxx
Summary: ... with Kotaro, that is. Not at all. He's like a brother to her, but nothing more. And this is not a kiss, it is a pactio, so it does't count. Besides, she isn't in love with him. Nope. Not at all. A Natsumi/Kotaro fanfic.


It was okay, she could deal with it. It was just a kiss. No big deal. Just a kiss with a kid who might as well be her little brother. Just a kiss with a kid that she had no romantic feelings for what-so-ever. Not a problem. Totally chill. Wouldn't take more than two seconds and didn't count as a real first kiss anyway. Desperate times and desperate measures, right?

... Damn, his face was close to hers.

So maybe Natsumi was a little nervous about kissing Kotaro, even if he had finally gotten around to closing his eyes (and that made it better, a small part of her admitted, the small part that _might_ admit, she was just a _tad_ freaked out right now), and even then, she had the right to be just a little nervous about what was _kinda_ like a first kiss, even if she didn't have any romantic feelings _at all_ for Kotaro, a fact that bares repeating. So this was fine. She could do it.

Natsumi cleared her throat and turned away from Kotaro's too-close face, addressing the near-by ermine, "W-well then, Chamo-kun... are you ready?"

"Sure thing!" Chamo replied, and the creature had a smile on his face that did not seem appropriate to Natsumi, but she nodded nonetheless and turned to take Kotaro's face in her hands.

Then stopped.

She was wearing gloves, she realized suddenly. She wouldn't be able to feel his face or his hair with gloves on. Not that it really mattered since this wasn't a real kiss and she _did not love Kotaro_, but it wasn't entirely unlike a kiss either, and it wouldn't hurt to get an idea of what it would be like for her _real _first kiss. And what was the likelihood she would have gloves on for that?

(Kotaro's face was surprisingly soft-looking just then, under the twinkle of starlight and above the glow of the magic circle. It was odd to see, since he usually sported a cocky look that was less than cuddly and mostly annoying. But it suited him, this new appearance. It was nice. And she'd always wondered what his hair would feel like, what kind of texture would make it so spiky without any effort. It would probably be coarse, but a part of Natsumi held on to the thought that it would feel like dog's fur.)

Before she could change her mind, Natsumi stripped off her gloves, gently grabbed Kotaro's face, and kissed him, ignoring the rapid-fire beat of her heart and the heat on her cheeks. _She did not love Kotaro, she did not love Kotaro, she did not, she did not, she..._

His lips were chapped, and Natsumi couldn't help but think of overheard conversations about how soft Negi's lips were and how surprisingly good he was at kissing. Kotaro wasn't very good; he was shock-still and his mouth was rough and he didn't seem to respond at all to the soft press of her lips against his. Still, there was something about this she couldn't quite grasp that was making her heart flutter pleasantly. It was like that moment before a performance, but better, and she was losing herself in the headiness of it, a warm pressure was building in her chest like an over-full balloon. She let it out in a low hum in the back of throat. Kotaro might have made a similar noise, though his sounded more confused, but she couldn't be sure. This was all just so...

Over. It was over. Suddenly, there were two cards with her picture on them floating in mid-air and Kotaro was catching his breath in front of her, his face a deep red. Natsumi pressed a finger to her lips. They still felt the same as before, but her hazy, giddy mind could swear something was different. And then there was this feeling, sweetly wrapped around her, growing larger by the second.

"I was lying," she confessed, cutting off Kotaro in whatever he was saying. She looked up at his face and could only imagine how flushed she must have looked, how dewy her eyes must have seemed, how dopey and addled and so much like a teenager in –

"I like you too, Kotaro-kun."

"Huh?"

It was only then that Natsumi's brain finally kicked back in, reminding her that she wasn't in love with Kotaro and never would be. The air around Natsumi's head went up at least ten degrees and she grabbed the first thing she could and shoved it in Kotaro's mouth, hoping to dissuade him from responding properly. She had to get out of here.

"F-f-forget I said anything!" She sprinted away, heart pounding in time with her feet, her head spinning. Kissing, she decided right then, was dangerous. It made girls, who were most certainly not in love, silly and stupid over ten year old boys.

Anyway, that was not a real kiss.

She was not in love.

And she was most certainly not thinking about having another not-kiss with a Kotaro, with whom she was most certainly not in love.

Ever.

**A/N: This is a fairly pointless novelization of the pactio between Natsumi and Kotaro. It doesn't really need to exist, outside of providing a reason for Natsumi to not be wearing gloves in the panels during and after the kiss. Besides Akamatsu goofing up, or course. Also, there's not enough Kotsumi fic out there.**


End file.
